Rating the Race: Pocono 500

After smashing the field during qualifying, and then establishing himself as the car to beat throughout the practice sessions over the weekend, Kasey Kahne backed it all up in convincing fashion as he won Sunday’s Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway.

Kahne, who started Sunday’s race from the pole position, ran up front during the early portions of the race, though he didn’t lead for the first time until lap 17, but a pit road mishap on lap 57 put him in the back of the field. Crew Chief, Kenny Francis, originally called for a four-tire stop, but then changed his mind and wanted to change only two, but the tire changer had already begun loosening the lugnuts, and Kahne drove off with the lugs still loose. They were forced to call him back into the pits, thus giving Kahne some catching up to do, but the car was so dominant that he had made it back to the front by lap 129.

Kasey surrendered the lead when he came into pit under green on lap 154, but re-assumed command once the field had cycled itself through the stops. Kahne again lost the lead after making his final stop for the day on lap 175. The tenth and final caution flag of the day came out one lap later, and Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had used a bit of pit strategy to work their way up ahead of the no. 9 car. Kahne struggled momentarily to get around the two cars on older tires, but after disposing of Earnhardt, he finally made his way around Vickers for the lead on lap 184. It appeared briefly that Denny Hamlin might have had a fast enough car to contend with Kahne, but he was never able to find a line to get around Vickers, and Kahne pulled away from the field and sprinted to his second win of the season.

Vickers used quite a bit of strategy throughout the day to earn his second place finish. He put himself on a completely different pit cycle than the majority of the field, and it allowed him to lead the race on three different occasions. After making his final stop of the day with 35 laps remaining, he didn’t pit under the final caution and was able to stay up towards the front of the field despite running on older tires.

Denny Hamlin had an interesting run en route to his third place finish. After a red flag halted the action on lap 71 for rain, Hamlin made some extra pit stops to fix the damage he’d incurred earlier in the day from contact on pit road, sending him to the back of the field and forcing him to work his way back through the pack. He, too, briefly put himself on a different pit schedule than everyone else as he and five other cars elected to remain on the track after a lap 81 caution. The yellow was brought out when Clint Bowyer got loose trying to get under Paul Menard, sending Bowyer into a spin that collected Juan Pablo Montoya in the process. Staying out later enabled Hamlin to lead his only laps on the day when he wrestled the lead away from Elliott Sadler on lap 90.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed a solid run that saw him up near the front for the better part of the day as he came home in fourth, while Jeff Burton continued his consistent streak with a fifth place finish after a relatively quiet day. The two drivers battled fiercely for position in the closing laps of the race, but in the end, it was Junior edging Burton to the line despite running on older tires (Earnhardt was on the same pit sequence as Vickers, whom last pitted with 35 laps to go).

Sixth place went to Jimmie Johnson, whose car looked very strong in the early goings, but slipping back in traffic about halfway through the event seemed to hinder the car’s performance. Crew Chief, Chad Knauss, was forced to use some strategy by keeping Johnson on the track when the rest of the field pitted on lap 122. The move handed Johnson – who was running 8th at the time of the caution – the lead for the fifth time of the day, but in the end, the gamble didn’t pay off and Johnson had to settle for a top-ten finish.

Matt Kenseth had a solid and consistent day of running in the top-ten, and it netted him a seventh place finish as he continues to climb through the standings in his quest to make the Chase. Kurt Busch managed to hang onto 8th place after overcoming near catastrophe. A spin through the infield back on lap 39 broke several of the struts and splitters underneath the car, but after several repairs, Pat Tryson and crew were able to keep Busch on the lead lap, resulting in a much needed top-ten.

Carl Edwards overcame a late-race flat tire and was forced to make two stops under caution with less than 25 laps remaining, but battled his way back to a 9th place finish. Mark Martin rounded out the top-ten with a fairly silent tenth place run.

Disaster struck late in the race for two of the stronger cars at the time – and, two of NASCAR’s unluckiest drivers as of late. As the field cycled their way through their final green flag stops of the day with less than 35 laps to go, both Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart – both of whom ran up around the top-five for most of the race – were caught exiting their pits too fast and were forced to make drive thru penalties. Biffle was able to rebound to a 15th place finish, but Stewart got caught a lap down in 35th.

After wrecking his car during Saturday’s practice session, things only got worse for points leader, Kyle Busch. Mired back in traffic for the start of the race, Busch tried to slide in front of Jamie McMurray on lap 45. He clipped McMurray’s front end, and the 18 car went sailing into the wall. The crew spent quite a bit of time trying to repair the car, and eventually got him back out on the track. After spinning again on lap 176, Busch eventually finished dead last, 105 laps down. McMurray went onto finish 20th.

Bobby LaBonte matched his best finish of the season with an 11th place run, while his brother, Terry LaBonte, made his first start of the season and finished 30th. AJ Allmendinger had a career-best 12th place run after qualifying 8th and running inside the top-ten all day long. Kevin Harvick changed batteries before the race after the team left the ignition on in the car overnight, forcing him to start in the back of the field, but he slowly climbed his way up through the field and finished in 13th.

Kahne’s victory makes him the third multi-race winner on the season and moves him up to 9th in the standings. The disappointing runs for Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart have now put them on the Chase bubble in 11th and 12th, with 13th place David Ragan now just 7 points behind Stewart. Kyle Busch retains the points lead, now just 21 points ahead of Jeff Burton.

Pocono Grades:
the Race: 86%
the Drama: 85%
Coverage: 81%
Pre-Race: 75%

Overall Grade: 83.7%

*Credit photo to Newscom.

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

Sprint Cup Series Standings (from nascar.com):

Recommended Reads:
- Kasey Kahne Captures Third Win in Four Weeks (Racing for the Win)
- NASCAR Needs Dedicated Safety Team (NASCAR Insiders)